I’ve been known to stir in the fragrant juice and zest of an orange into our pancake and French toast batters in the past, and those breakfasts have always gone over big for our family. So this past weekend, this concept was given a little different twist. I added orange zest to a cinnamon and sugar mixture, topped slices of French toast with it, and then cooked it until that citrusy sugar was all golden and caramelized and completely irresistible. Drizzled with a simple orange marmalade syrup, all warm and sticky, thisFrench Toast with Caramelized Cinnamon Sugar proved to be another delicious hit. And it was so quick and easy to make!

With the new French Toast Batter from Crystal Farms (a company based right here in the Midwest), I had a hot and delicious breakfast sitting in front of my family in record time. The batter is made with eggs, vanilla, and milk, and comes in a handy carton with a spout. It’s so quick and easy to use, that I actually found myself making the kids orange French toast on a hectic Monday morning, before I headed into work and our kids were off to school. I had saved the leftover cinnamon orange sugar and marmalade syrup from our weekend meal, and it helped to make Monday morning so much easier to step in to with a smile on.

Crystal Farms has also debuted two other new egg products. Simply Eggs can stand in for shell eggs in any baking or cooking recipe. And Scrambled Eggs has some buttermilk added to it, providing beautifully fluffy eggs every time. My husband and I are very much an eggs-for-breakfast-or-any-meal-of-the-day kind of couple, and we both found these products to be tasty and incredibly easy to use. It took only a few minutes to prepare a quick protein-rich weekday breakfast. And with a little more leisure time over the weekend, we indulged our hot skillet of eggs with some freshly chopped veggies and herbs, and a sprinkling of cheese. After making it through another week, an extra special weekend breakfast is always the perfect reward.

GIVEAWAY!

Crystal Farms is giving away one

$500 VISA GIFT CARD!

And it’s so easy to enter to win…

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

Tweet about this promotion and include “#SweepstakesEntry” in your message. Leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.

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For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This sweepstakes runs from February 19th, 2013 to March 31st, 2013, and is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by email. Winner will have 72 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be selected. A farmgirl’s dabbles and Crystal Farms are not responsible for lost or undelivered emails.

Please note: This is not an exact recipe. Just make as little or as much as you want each time. The cinnamon orange sugar and the orange marmalade syrup keep well in the refrigerator, for future quick and easy meals.

Prepare cinnamon orange sugar by stirring together all ingredients. Set aside.

Prepare orange marmalade syrup by combining maple syrup and orange marmalade in a small bowl or pitcher. Warm just a bit in the microwave.

Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Melt a bit of butter in the pan. Pour desired amount of French Toast Batter in a shallow bowl, and then dip first bread slice in it. Turn bread over in the batter and then, while still dipped in the batter, place up to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon orange sugar on the top side of the bread. Spread to evenly coat that side of the bread. Then place the bread on the buttered pan, with the cinnamon orange sugar side down first. After the sugar has caramelized and turned golden, about 2 minutes or so, flip the bread and cook until done, another couple of minutes. Repeat process with remaining bread slices. Serve with warm orange marmalade syrup, maple syrup, or fresh fruit.

Omelets are my favorite easy breakfast. Just toss in some fresh veggies and it makes a delicious meal! I also pre-pack bags of smoothie ingredients and freeze them so all I have to do in the morning is take one out and blend it up! It’s a quick and easy breakfast and a great way to get my fruits and veggies in!

I’m afraid to say what we have for breakfast. My son won’t eat oatmeal, doesn’t like cereal very much, and mom is not a morning person. You can see where this is leading. Fridays, at least, we have a tradition of scrambled eggs and a couple Hostess chocolate doughnuts. This “instant” French toast batter will be a wonderful option for our breakfasts. Thank you!

I don’t have time to make waffles for breakfast, so I make them later in the day and refrigerate them. Then, on subsequent mornings, it only takes a few minutes to warm them up in the toaster oven (right on the rack, to keep them crisp).

I had never seen these products before, but they definitely look like great (all natural) time savers. Very cool! I also love how you use the fresh seasonal produce in so many different ways. Great inspiration!

My favorite breakfast item recently is crockpot steelcut oatmeal made with eggnog and dried cranberries and flax seed or chia seed. Yummy 1st morning and then I package the left overs for next few days in refrig or freezer. Warms up well.

Prior to that Sargento’s Monterey Jack and jalapeño cheese sticks and fruit.

My kids love pancakes, so every weekend a make a batch of pancakes and keep them in the fridge for the week. I microwave them for a bit and they make a quick breakfast for our busy mornings, and this saves money too.

My favorite busy morning breakfast solution used to be making a batch of breakfast cookies the night before. It’s all healthy ingredients and my kids love them because they are eating cookies for breakfast. But I think I’ll have to try your French Toast with Caramelized cinnamon and orange sugar. My kids love French Toast and I make them all the time on weekends. The Crystal Farm French Toast Batter would make my life much easier. It’s always nice to have a hot breakfast before school especially in winter time. :)

My quick and easy breakfast used to be grabbing a protein bar like Cliff, Luna or Think Thin. Since I did a juice cleanse in January I have been making smoothies with almond milk and veggies and fruit. I love the weekends when I can make a big brunch for my family!

Quick, easy and oh-so-pretty! I’m glad I found your blog. Now I’m craving a big plate of french toast! Thank you for sharing another dose of inspiration. I hope you are having a great week and are staying warm.

I’ve been on a french toast kick lately ever since I started using the thicker slices of Texas toast and baking it in the oven on 350 for about 20 minutes instead of using the skillet. I’ll definitely be using this recipe the next time I make this. Thanks for sharing, this looks delish!

I like to cut up some fresh avocado and cherry tomatoes and keep them on hand in the fridge. Then for breakfast I scramble up and egg and add in the veggies and some feta cheese. If I’m in a big hurry I throw it all in a tortilla and out the door I go.